For Chicago Youths, Shooting Highlights a Common Path

By

Caroline Porter And

Douglas Belkin

Feb. 16, 2013 5:50 p.m. ET

CHICAGO—
Hadiya Pendleton
was a 15-year-old majorette who had just returned from a performance with her school band at President
Barack Obama
's
inauguration.
Michael Ward
was an 18-year-old gang member who prosecutors say was looking to avenge the murder of a close friend at the hands of a rival gang.

Their paths appear to have crossed two weeks ago when Ms. Pendleton was shot and killed, allegedly by Mr. Ward, in an incident that has cast a spotlight on this city's endemic violence.

On Friday, Mr. Obama spoke about the toll of that violence and what could be done about it. In addition to gun-control legislation, he focused on the need for stronger families and communities.

"We may not be able to save every child from gun violence, but if we save a few, that starts changing the atmosphere in our communities," he said.

While the public attention to Ms. Pendleton's murder has been extraordinary, the path that connected her and her alleged killer is all too common in a city where dozens of school children are murdered in a typical year—often by other young people. Ten other teenagers or children were slain in Chicago in just the preceding four weeks. Gun violence is at the center of most of it.

The violence "starts when you're young growing up," said Mr. Ward's cousin
Eliel Brown,
in an interview Thursday. "It defines you in a way. Imagine growing up and you have to duck and look to see if someone is going to hurt you or your sister. Violence is just bad. It's everywhere really."

Lakeisha Stewart,
Ms. Pendleton's godmother, said there was no way of knowing where the violence would strike. "It's scary, nobody is safe," she said. "You don't know who that next victim will be, who that next accidental target will be."

The tragedy unfolded on Jan. 29 when a gunman ran into a park where Ms. Pendleton and a group of her high-school friends were congregating after exams and fired into the crowd. One struck Ms. Pendleton in the back, killing her.

Prosecutors this week alleged that Mr. Ward fired the gun, thinking the group was affiliated with the rival gang. Mr. Ward has been charged with murder; if convicted, he could face decades in prison. His lawyer says Mr. Ward is innocent.

Because the murder took place a mile from Mr. Obama's South Side home less than two months after 20 children were shot dead in a Connecticut elementary school, it has risen to the top of the agenda at the White House. Mr. Obama hosted Ms. Pendleton's parents at the State of the Union speech on Tuesday, where he used their presence as part of an emotional call for meaningful action on gun control.

Mr. Ward and Ms. Pendleton grew up just a few miles apart. Ms. Pendleton had a younger brother and excelled in school. She had dreams of becoming a pharmacist or a journalist and attending Northwestern University.

Mr. Ward was one of six in his family living in a three-bedroom apartment. Family members said Thursday that the violence in Mr. Ward's neighborhood affected him from an early age, when he had to walk six blocks to his elementary school. That commute became a test of nerve and savvy for the small group of children from the neighborhood who would try to anticipate gang hot spots and avoid them for fear of attack.

In a grade school, Mr. Brown said, a teacher told Mr. Brown that only two in 10 of his classmates would succeed in life.

At 14, Mr. Ward was detained for shoplifting at Macy's, according to his lawyer,
Jeffrey Granich.
He wasn't charged.

A few years later, Mr. Ward was arrested in his high school and charged with robbery, Mr. Granich said. At 17, Mr. Ward was arrested for unauthorized use of a weapon, his lawyer said; in both cases, Mr. Granich said, Mr. Ward pled guilty and was put on probation.

About 18 months ago, retaliatory attacks began between his group—an offshoot of a gang called the Gangster Disciples—and an outfit that went by the name of 4-6 Terror, Mr. Ward's lawyer said.

At least one of Mr. Ward's close friends was murdered, including one last September. The boy died in his arms after being shot in his head, according to Mr. Ward's lawyer.

Prosecutors said Mr. Ward told them that when the rival gang killed his friend, he believed his crew had to act. "If we keep standing for this we going to be some straight bitches," Mr. Ward said, according to Assistant State's Attorney
Jennifer Sexton,
who spoke at a hearing this week.

Mr. Ward's lawyer said he couldn't confirm or deny those comments, but added that he would seek in court to have Mr. Ward's statements to prosecutors thrown out because, Mr. Granich alleges, the case was mishandled.

Prosecutors say that on the day of Ms. Pendleton's murder, Mr. Ward and a friend, who has also been charged with murder, were driving around in a Nissan Sentra owned by Mr. Ward's mother when they passed the park where Ms. Pendleton and her friends were standing under a canopy to get out of the rain. The men mistook the school kids for their rivals, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors say that Mr. Ward's friend drove down an alley and handed him a gun, and Mr. Ward sneaked up to the group. "They didn't see him coming," Ms. Sexton said.

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